Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 99)

How timely!

My boyfriend is looking to drop some weight.  I told him we'd eat clean for 2 weeks and exercise daily and see how we felt - it starts Monday!

He's been basically pulling 12 hour days at work since we move to AZ because it involves ~3 hours in a van round trip to get to the indian reservation he works on. It's definitely taken a toll on his energy levels and eating habits. He comments on his pudge regularly, but seriously lacks the motivation to do anything about it. I lack motivation to eat better. So, it's a win-win on the buddy system. Plus, now he can't say no when I ask him to go for a bike ride

Congratulations!!! big weight off your shoulders - and who wouldn't want to go to California in March

I went for a run last night and my legs feel the best they have in ages. The weather was fantastic.  I have a 25k trail race this weekend which is really just for fun.

I haven't gotten back into a real routine yet except for a run and ride on the weekends.  I am mulling over what my next steps are.  I am thinking a good goal for spring will be breaking 50 minutes in the 10k.  I would think about it sooner but after the beginning of november the race season is really over until early in the spring. My current PB at 10k is 50:05.  

Running with more intensity over this distance would be manageable while still maintaining some s/b.   But I need to get a bit of a plan in order.  I work so much better when I have a plan.

oops, sorry. I forgot about the prohibition against bringing up TT topics in this group. Sincerest of apologies. Will not happen again.

Chris: Lots of great nutrition advice from these guys but I wanted to add one thing... you said in your post that you have issues withfood and that you are a food addict , in that case, counting calories and obsessing over food might not be the way to go. There's a really good book called "Intuitive Eating" that gets to the core of our issues with food. Without going on too much, it basically says that we have lost touch with our natural hunger and because food is so readily available (to most of us), we overeat. I think the challenge as an athlete is that we have to fuel our body appropriately but we sometimes become too obsessed with thinking I have to eat "x" food at this time. I agree with your wife that your body will find it's ideal weight if you let it. I would consider myself an intuitive eater and my weight doesn't fluctuate much. I also eat whatever I want, which is about 90% healthy and 10% not so healthy.

Long food post, but trying to answer Chris' question of "what did you do...?"

I would recommend Michael Pollan's little book "Food Rules" to anyone that was interested and has not already read it. Pleasant to read in an hour or less. Completely changed the way my wife and I think about food and made eating a lot more fun. Pollan lays out what he sees as 4 basic contemporary "myths" about food:

Myth #1: Food is a delivery vehicle for nutrients. What really matters isn't broccoli but its fiber and antioxidants. If we get that right, we get our diet right. Foods kind of get in the way.

Myth #2: We need experts to tell us how to eat. Nutrients are invisible and mysterious. "It is a little like religion," Pollan said. "If a powerful entity is invisible, you need a priesthood to mediate your relation with food."

Myth #3: The whole point of eating is to maintain and promote bodily health. "You are either improving or ruining your health when you eat -- that is a very American idea," Pollan says. "But there are many other reasons to eat food: pleasure, social community, identity, and ritual. Health is not the only thing going on on our plates."

Myth #4: There are evil foods and good foods. "At any given time there is an evil nutrient we try to drive like Satan from the food supply -- first it was saturated fats, then it was trans fat," Pollan says. "Then there is the evil nutrient's doppelganger, the blessed nutrient. If we get enough of that we, will be healthy and maybe live forever. It's funny through history how the good and bad guys keep changing."

The book lists 64 principles that are full of common sense. One of my favorites:

#39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we're eating them every day. The french fry did not become America's most popular vegetable until industry took over the jobs of washing, peeling, cutting, and frying the potatoes -- and cleaning up the mess. If you made all the french fries you ate, you would eat them much less often, if only because they're so much work. The same holds true for fried chicken, chips, cakes, pies, and ice cream. Enjoy these treats as often as you're willing to prepare them -- chances are good it won't be every day.

So my wife and I made two basic changes to our food habits: First, about 85% of what we eat (vegetables, dairy, eggs, and meat) comes from a local CSA program. Almost all of the rest comes from other local farmers markets. The second is that I learned to cook. Like ACTUALLY learned to cook, from scratch, like my mom did when I was a kid on the farm. The first part I think is really key not so much because local/organic food is better (I don't believe it is, necessarily) but instead because it causes us to eat seasonally which in turn brings a great deal of variability to our meals. The first summer we switched we went a little over 4 months without having the same meal twice. I think this kind of "dietary confusion" (sort of like the cross-fit of eating) has been key in both my wife and I getting much more lean. So we really do eat whatever we want, so long as we make it from scratch. Not from a box or a mix, but actually from real basic ingredients. And it is fun: every week we get a box of food that we have no idea what it is - most of it looks funny because it has not been engineered for transportation or shelf life. I find out what it is, type a couple or three of the ingredients into google, and out comes hundreds of recipes made from a combination of those very things. Admittedly this way of eating costs more in both time and money, and we are fortunate to be able to. But when talking to my mom a couple of months ago about it she said, "well, I would rather pay the farmer than the doctor." And I guess one of the other things she used to tell me when I was a kid kinda stuck too. She used to say, "If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple then you are not hungry." She's pretty smart.

So, we don't count calories, and we don't read labels (there aren't any) we don't really do anything to "watch what we eat."

For the record, in my 2008 physical I weighed 172 pounds and had a combined cholesterol level of 137 (HDL 58/LDL 69) All very good, except I was soft around the middle. Four years later I am much more lean and my weight fluctuates between 158~162 pounds. This summer my cholesterol was 152 (HDL 71/LDL 74) and my triglycerides were 35. I'll take that.

Alcohol is MY nemesis. If I want to drop my weight down below 155lbs for race day I have to go cold turkey for 4~5 weeks, which is a real pity.

LMAO

Wow...that's a great thing to keep in mind.

Much thanks everyone.   Lots of food (ahem) for thought.   Digesting (uh) it all at the moment.  Funny how a lot of it just comes down to common sense......

ETA - the great thing about this group is the quality of these types of responses and the thought and effort that goes into them.   Very much appreciated.

Chris, one of the questions in your original post was whether anyone had seen a nutritionist. I did a couple years ago. There weren't any groundbreaking insights. Just a good discussion of how to make some "swaps" to improve overall nutrition. The funny part of her assessment: I am a vegetarian (almost vegan) that doesn't eat enough vegetables. (BTW, from your description of typical daily diet a few green additions wouldn't hurt;-)

I could have saved my money and just read what came from this thread. Good luck. 

Kim

Good thoughts from everyone.  Chris, I can sympathize a great deal with you on that topic.  In 09 I was around 225lbs.  I'm a little under 5'9" so that is quite a bit of weight on a shorter guy.  I do have some muscle...but not THAT much.  I didn't really change what I ate and I just worked out more and I sort of leveled off where I just fluctuate in the mid 18x range for the most part after that first year if training.  I have major foodie issues and eat a lot of food.  My discipline is horrible.  Truth be told if I take a good hard look in the mirror, it is my easiest to fix biggest limiter and there is always an excuse.  I was also diagnosed with crohns, but I still eat very poorly which is just wrong.  I've been trying to make changes as well.  I also know that this is the time of year to really execute changes and not when your trying to build for a race with increased volume.  I'm going to give it a real go this winter to see if I can come into spring quite a bit lighter than I have in the past.  I remember 9 or so years ago when I did watch what I ate and was into bodybuilding more.  I got to 175 but was pretty strong so kind of cut.  I didn't even run all that much, but I felt way better running.  It's amazing what 10lbs of excess bodyweight does to us on the run and pounding stress your body goes thorugh.

Anyway, all stuff you already know....but thought knowing someone else faces those challenges and is trying to make changes could add to the support.  I may be checking in on you for a little inspiration now from time to time!

Kim, I am one of those vegetarians too, LOL. I was struggling to get even 5 a day. I do like fruits and veggies, I just wasn't prioritizing them. I'm doing better but there's still room for improvement  

It is.  Just downloaded it

I like fruits and veggies too and in the summer my diet is pretty good. There are farm stands on every corner, so it's easy. In the winter, I have to work at it or the wheels fall off.  I'm happy with a peanut butter sandwich.  

BTW, candy was mentioned earlier. Since we're approaching Halloween and the dreaded endless office candy bowl...thought I'd share this factoid:  Eating two (2) 'fun-size' snickers every work day for a year will result in approx 7 lbs of weight gain.   Disclaimer - I haven't validated the math on this one but am currently using it as a deterrent.

FWIW, I lost a good deal of weight (over 20% of my total weight) after reading, and taking seriously, some of the ideas from that book. I am extremely skeptical of weight-loss literature in general, and literature that is advertised in that way in particular, but on the other hand, if any group of people knows about how to control weight it is body builders, so I got the book, and while it is in almost every way contrary to the sort of literature that I'm inclined to take seriously, I found it to be very valuable. My wife did as well (and she has zero interest in athletic endeavors).

Again FWIW (weight is such a touchy subject... and it is so refreshing to see it discussed openly and without malice here), I think that Pollan's advice (I've got mixed feelings about his writings, but I like this point) to eat 'junk' (not a categorization that I like, though) only if you make it yourself is pretty good advice for anybody (raises hand) who is inclined towards less than super-healthy food. I've got 2 years of training as a chef in Paris, so I know my way around cream and butter and can whip up a vegan's nightmare in a matter of minutes, but I have found that restricting my intake of clearly less than ideal meals to the ones I make myself (and if you are ever in South Carolina I'll invite you to the best barbecue anywhere... but it takes 16 hours) is very effective in enforcing a reasonable diet.

Congratulations!!  That's great news!

Fall is definitely in the air around here.  I was out for a 1 hour ride last night and had to get the arm warmers out due to a cold north wind.  I have a feeling I'm going to have to dust off the trainer soon.

I have started back into structured training this week, feels great to be back into a routine of some sort.  Actually got in the pool twice this week, including a set of 75s that were "Pull with paddles, ankle band and drag chute" - that was fun! 

What does everyone have left for races/events this year (if anything)?  I've got nothing planned, just some things I am considering.